


Time Away

by Fallen_Ark_Angel



Series: Remember Me [42]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 10:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17958764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fallen_Ark_Angel/pseuds/Fallen_Ark_Angel
Summary: Erza needs a vacation. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done when you have two little boys in constant need of your guidance.





	Time Away

It had been a hard adjustment for the swordswoman, the addition of two young boys into her life. She'd lived alone, after all, for most of her life up until that point and to suddenly have two rambunctious children in constant need of her attention, devotion, or, at the very least, her to provide them meals, shelter, and protection (they were frequently on the outs with Master Laxus), was not exactly something Erza was prepared for.

Still, the harsh realities of caring for young kids was, honestly, a welcomed challenge for Titania. She'd gone through so much in her life, yet children were something that would, more than likely, always escape her otherwise. She never foresaw herself as ending up with someone who would be able to settle down and start a family. She doubted, truly, if she would ever feel that calling in her life at all. Surely, if he was going to, it would have by that point. And yet, there she was, before the boys' arrival, never once getting that urge. That yearning. She didn't wish or long for the life that she was watching her friends have. That time away from training and magic all just to give birth to a child.

No.

There were many reasons that she did not wish for this and many more than it was just an improbability she ever would.

Yet, there was a bit of a desire, perhaps, one that had always been bubbling under the surface. Erza saw herself as, above all other amazing things she also saw herself as, an amazing teacher. Someone that a young person could learn a lot from. And she got that, the day that Ravan and Kai officially began to stay in her home. Though he rejected it (as he rejected most things), the oldest of the two orphans was very much so her student and his younger brother was, truly, just a mess.

A complete mess.

But Erza's mess. She knew this responsibility and wore it well, disapproving stares and all. She woke up each morning to Kai and his antics, as well as Ravan's, should he be around (he was taking jobs much more often now), and typically kept him in her mind when it came to her day to day plans.

Which is why, day in advance, she planned for him to be staying with the Dreyars while she took a trip away.

"But why do you gotta go away? If it ain't on a job?" he complained slightly (and only slight; he was kind of pumped about spending the night with his best friend Marin Dreyar) as Erza stood over him one day, watching him go around his bedroom, preparing a bag. "And why can't I go with you?"

"I have yet to see you pack underwear," she remarked simply before, with a sigh, answering his question instead. "And can we not get a break from one another? You and I? I'm sure you will be glad to be rid of me for a few days."

"Days?" He frowned from over at the dresser he shared with his brother. He was desperately trying to find some underwear to pack because then Erza would find out that he hadn't been doing his laundry like she'd ordered him to (which, for him, just meant gathering his clothes and putting them in the hamper; instead, he'd kind of just been kicking dirty clothes underneath the bunk bed out of laziness), but stopped at her words. "How many days? And where are you going? What if I need you?"

"What could you possibly need me for, Kai?"

"Well… What if I get sick?"

"The Master and his wife are perfectly capable of handling any illness that might befall you."

"Even if I get the 'pox'."

"What kind of pox?"

"All the pox!"

"Then they will have to put you down, for the betterment of the human species."

"Like a dog?"

"Like a rabid one."

"Guess I better not get all the pox then..."

"Kai, I still have yet to see you pack any under-"

He sighed loudly then, just to cut off her remarked. It worked. And in her silence, he said, "So you wouldn't come back? If I got all the pox?"

"No."

"What if...what if… What if I just got real sad? And ran away? Would you come back? To help look for me."

"Do not runaway."

"But if I did-"

"Kai." Her voice alone commanded his gaze. "Do not runaway."

"Well...what if I went missing? Then would you come home?"

"Why are you so worried about this? I go away on jobs all the time," she complained. "What difference does it make? That it is not out on a job?"

"It makes all the difference." He even began to nod his head emphatically. "Because you've never done it before. Leave for no reason. I just… You're not going away because of me? Are you? Because I'm annoying/'

"Partially."

His spirits were crushed. But still, Erza came over to pat him on the head.

"It has been much for me to deal with, Kai. These two years have gone so fast and yet… There is nothing that makes me happier than taking care of you."

"Wow, really? More than magic? More than being super bossy and mean to everyone at the guild?"

That time, he got a bit of a look that shut him right up before, sighing, she shook her head.

"Sometimes, you need breaks in life," she explained simply. "Real breaks. A vacation. From training and guild duties and...and children. And you need a break from me as well. But know that, in a week's time, I shall come back-"

"A week now? Erza-"

"You'll hardly know that I'm gone."

"But, if I did and I missed you a whole bunch and needed you-"

"I," she assured him, "would come running."

Finally, he smiled.

"But if it were not something serious and you were merely acting as a young toddler, I would make you run until your nose bled and your heart begged for mercy."

His smile fell. But it was just as well. After patting him once, twice, on the head, she rose to her full height.

"I have yet to see any underwear, Kai. In fact… I do not even recall washing you any in the past… Kai-"

"Maybe we could do a quick load of laundry?" he questioned with a tilt of the head. "Do you think? Erza?"

He agreed, after the tongue lashing he got then, that yes, maybe they did need a break from one another.

Still, Erza got him to the guildhall on time where, of course, Marin was waiting for him.

"Kai! Are you ready to spend the night?"

Excitedly, he held his bag up to show as such. "All packed. I even brought clean underwear."

This was funny to Marin, but to the other children seated at the table with her, this got varying amounts of disgust through his way.

"Boys are gross," Navi remarked. She should know, considering she had two brothers, an Exceed, and father all at home. Locke, Gajeel's only son, didn't like this assertion though.

"No," he replied. "Just Kai."

"And most other boys," Haven decided. As Master Laxus' oldest daughter, she frequently found she had the ability to assert such things. Even without him though, her pigheadedness would no doubt lead to the same sort of opinion.

Locke wanted to argue, but also didn't feel like dealing with the fight this would no doubt spawn.

Plus, she was a bit right…

"We have to wait," Marin was going on then though to Kai. "Until Mommy or Daddy finishes at the hall. Then we can go home. Daddy said that we're gonna make burgers for dinner! And Uncle Elf said tomorrow him and Aunt Ever will take us with them to the market and the next day… Well, I dunno what we'll do, but-"

"You're not going to sleep in  _my_  room." Haven was tired of hearing her sister gush, clearly. "You two can sleep in the living room, on the floor. Like dogs."

"Haven," Locke complained with a frown.

"You must have found out about my pox," Kai muttered.

"Your what?" Navi asked. She'd been laying with her head down, but pushed up at that. She wasn't completely certain what pox were, but she was nearly certain if she brought them home to her little brothers, her mother would not be too pleased.

"Kai."

There would be time later, it seemed, to determine just which pox the boy did and did not have as, suddenly, Erza was back, standing over the table. There were few people in the hall that commanded attention in such a way. Even Gajeel didn't shut Haven up as well as the swordswoman did.

"I shall be taking off now," she was saying to the boy who only nodded his head slowly. "When I return, I expect to hear nothing, but glowing reports from the Dreyars. Remember, you are staying with your Master. I want you to be the upmost respectful and courteous. Do not cause problems. I mean it, Kai. I will see you when I return."

Now, in front of Marin, Kai had to be a man. Especially if they were gonna spend the next day with Elfman. She might leak it back to him, even just on accident, that he wasn't acting manly.

He couldn't have that.

Still, he rushed to toss his arms around the woman and nuzzle against her cold armor. With a slow sigh, one of her hands came down to pat him on the back of the head.

"I will be back," she insisted. "I am not leaving you. It is a week and a half, at most."

"Just when are you coming back?" he complained, but she only went off to speak with Mirajane one last time before heading out.

She felt...free, even as she was stepping off the property. Kai was fine and taken care, she had no jobs, no prospects, just somewhere to get to, as soon as possible, and then-

"Ravan."

He was there, back at the house, sitting at the kitchen table waiting for her, it seemed.

"Erza," he replied back with a stuck out tongue as the woman only stared at him. After a moment though, he only frowned. "What?"

"What?" she repeated right back. "You are the one looking at me in such a way. Why are you even here? I thought you were out training."

"You're joking."

"Joking? About what?" She'd only come home to get her things, but apparently, things were going to take a moment. She'd forgotten to consider the older of the two boys in her plans (he was becoming quite self-sufficient...sort of…), but at the same time, figured he should be fine regardless. She certainly was at such an age. "Regardless, I am headed out. On-"

"Right. With me."

"Excuse me?"

He took to glaring while the woman only got herself a glass of water.

"Erza," he complained. "Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

Clearly, the pair were on different realms at the moment.

"You said," he griped loudly, "that if I completed four jobs-"

"I would take you out with me, yes." She was quickly coming to understand the problem. "But Ravan, I said that a month ago before I planned-"

"Planned what? Where are you going?"

"I'm…" She huffed then. "I can take you when I return."

"You said if you were off, then the next time I returned-"

"Ravan, you are not understanding. I am not off."

"Then you have a job to go on that you can take me on?"

"I'm on vacation."

"So you're off."

"Ravan-"

"Fine!" And he jumped up. "Don't take me then. See if I care, Erza. I didn't want to go on a dumb job with you anyways."

"I will take you when I return."

"I don't want to go now."

"Ravan-"

"You said you would take me, but you are a liar and-"

"Do you even have a job in mind? Ravan?" Erza did not enjoy being accused of not keeping her word. "Because currently there are very few jobs available on the board. If you can find one close to the town that I wish to take my vacation in, then perhaps you can travel down with me and-"

And that was that. She instructed him to go and get a job while keeping from Kai, should he still be around, where he was going. She did not want to have to take both boys with her.

After all, she was hoping to quickly finish with Ravan and then get on with her vacation of sorts. Which would mean sending him on his merry way all alone. Ravan could handle that. Kai, even with his brother, not so much.

One purchase of an extra train ticket later, and Erza and Ravan were off. He'd been whiny before, in order to get what he wanted, but he was back to his shitty, distant attitude then, glaring out the window for the majority of the trip, not at all receptive to her attempts at making conversation.

It was just as well.

Erza had other things on her mind, anyhow.

"We will stop off," she did tell him at one point. "In the town I planned to stay in. I must...meet with someone. Make other arraignments. You know."

He snorted, quite heavily, before remarking, "Who even goes to a vacation somewhere so boring, Erza?"

"I slay monsters, climb mountains, visit coasts, and explore capital cities everyday on quests." She hummed a bit. "Some nowhere little town without any notoriety will be nice. I can hole up in a hotel and spend a week worrying over nothing. I have many books that I wish to crack open. Many things to ponder. I am rare to allow myself such luxuries, but this feels long overdue."

He made a face, which she caught the reflection of in the window he was angrily mugging. "You're so boring."

"That's my point, Ravan." She sighed some. "Right now I prefer boring."

When they arrived, the town was just a dinky and  _boring_  as he'd feared. If Ravan cared more, he might think about Erza's well-being. That a mage who, honestly, was one of the most accomplished and profitable, couldn't get enough jewels together to take a decent vacation. He might even consider just what kind of toll he and his brother were tailing on her wallet, that this was her choice of vacation.

But he didn't care. So he didn't think about any of that.

Or at least he didn't dwell on it long.

She made him sit down in the lobby of the small hotel and he was annoyed, just a bit, as after speaking to the clerk behind the desk, she headed off, down the hall towards the rooms. This sat find with Ravan for a good, oh, two minutes. Then something hit him.

Where the heck did Erza go? If she hadn't checked in previously, which she obviously hadn't, why would she need to go to the room? And why did they come anyways? If she had the room for a week, fine, maybe she needed to come and check in just to be sure they didn't cancel her reservation, but even still, the place was dead as dirt. Why would she even need a reservation? Honestly?

Now curious (and suspecting some sort of trickery on the part of the woman), he set out to follow where she'd headed off to, picking up on the room number that the man behind the desk mentioned to her.

He wasn't as foolish as Erza though. And honestly, she didn't think him foolish at all. Just like before, when she nearly left town without telling him, it never crossed her mind that he might be curious about what she was doing. It should have, honestly, as he was a naturally nosy kid I(though he tried hard to hide this fact) and the issues he was raising at the moment were very valid. They didn't make sense.

She'd just been hoping to get back quickly to him and never thought he might even have the chance to follow after her. Nor want to. Had he known what she was doing, of course, he'd have been there with her immediately. Because there was only one thing that could drag Erza Scarlet, on her week away, to the rundown little town, and Ravan had just as much interest in him as she.

Because who else would be waiting for the swordswoman other than her somewhat significant, yet frequently absent, other. He seemed very busy, when she entered the room, going over a map of sorts at the rickety desk in the corner, but still turned his head up to glance at her. From beneath the cloth he had pulled high around his face, she could tell he was smiling.

"Erza," he greeted simply and it'd been the first word they spoken between one another in quite a number of months.

It felt right, anyhow.

Jellal rose then, to his feet, and they embraced for a few moments before, softly, he asked as they parted, "Where are your things?"

"Something has come up."

He couldn't help, but to chuckle. "Trouble in Fairy Tail? Of course. Always."

"Not to my knowledge," was the explanation he used because, yes, always did seem an accurate description. "No. Rather...I have… It's the children. One of them. Ravan. He's… Here."

"He's here?"

"He's in the lobby."

"Erza, why?" And suddenly, he didn't sound so wistful. "I thought that we were going to-"

"We are," she agreed slowly. "But first I must-"

"Erza!" And there was a loud knocking on the door then. "What are you doing? If you're trying to ditch out on me, forget it! I told you that I didn't want you to come with me anyways! I-"

"Ravan." She was jerking the door open then. "I thought that I told you to wait-"

"What are you doin'? Erza?" And he glared right back. "If you're trying to ditch me-"

"Ah, Ravan." Now at least having a chance to accept the fact of his presence, Jellal came to peek around the woman's shoulder. "It has been a bit, has it not? I see you haven't changed any though."

He was surprised momentarily, the boy was, and his shock almost turned into something close to joy. Maybe. But just as quickly, he recalled that he didn't even like the guy that much, really, and hardly knew him, and he sucked, anyways, always being gone and all, and other than when he was handing out gifts, Ravan had little use for him.

Erza huffed though, again, before reaching out to grab at the boy rather roughly and drag him into the room. She was hoping to avoid this.

"Is the younger one not here?" Jellal questioned as Ravan only jerked away from the swordswoman with a glare. "Cannot truly be a reunion without him."

"Kai," Erza griped as she glared right back at the boy, "is back in Magnolia, because he listens when I give him directions."

Ravan snorted as he said simply, "All you had to do was say you were going to visit your boyfriend, Erza. I didn't wanna come here to be with you anyways. What? Were you embarrassed?"

"No." And she was taking  _that_ tone with him. He knew that he only had a short amount of leash left. "But it is none of anyone's business what I do with my time or who I see during it. And that includes you and your brother. Now, I told you to go await me in the lobby.  _Now_."

And he might have done it, honestly, because she was giving off super strong, aggressive vibes and while he enjoyed pushing the woman (it was what he did best) even he knew that she had a limit. One that he'd crossed a few times, but never enjoyed the outcome of it.

But Jellal spoke then, before the boy could do anything.

"Do not be so harsh on him, Erza," he suggested with a bit of a shrug though he grinned quite plainly at the sight. "He merely was checking up on you, yes? What's the harm in that? You would punish your apprentice for caring about your well-being?"

"I punish insubordination."

"I don't care about Erza." Jellal, for the little interactions that Ravan had had with him, was also someone to tread lightly around. "And I'm not her apprentice."

"You are," the man assured him. "And you certainly do. What was it you brought him for, Erza? Did I hear something about a job?"

She was losing some of her steam (the man had that affect on her) and as she addressed him, the arms folded over her chest even loosened some.

"I forgot," she began slowly, "that I promised to accompany him on a job, following a down period. I was on my way here, to see you, when he informed me of this. You know that there is nothing a person has in this world, other than their word."

"That is true," the man agreed with a nod. "Tell me, Ravan, do you often request the accompaniment of those you do not care for?"

If he were wittier, Ravan might have mentioned his typical job partners consisted of the slayer kids, who he detested with a passion.

Instead, he only growled then, at Erza, retorting, "I'm not a baby, you know! If you don't wanna be around me, then-"

"I told you to wait in the lobby," she cut him off, "because I planned to come and quickly explain things so that we could be on our way. Now though-"

"You should just stay." He didn't growl that one. Or even say it with much anger in his voice. Rather, his clenched fists were relaxing and he was just a kid then, before two adults, rather than someone trying to feel equal, if not superior, to them. He only stared up at Erza with little expression as he said, "I can do my job alone. I didn't even really want to go on one with you anyways."

It was awkward, honestly, the situation was for Erza. Though Jellal and the two boys were, originally intertwined in her life, that wasn't so currently. He was hardly a thought in either Ravan or Kai's head and, though she kept up some correspondence with him, she found little reason to bring up either boy often. It felt like living two separate lives. It was living two separate lives. Though Jellal always seemed so amused by her caring for the boys, It was moments like this that reminded them both just what their presence was robbing them of. It was hard enough, forming a relationship over rare letters and even rarer visits, but adding two children into the mix, well…

"Go back to the lobby," was what she finally found herself saying to the boy. "I will speak with you in a moment. And do not disobey anymore orders, Ravan, or else I will march you back to Magnolia and have you explain to the Master why you see it fit to ignore the commands of an S-Class member."

He was annoyed now, feeling as if his attempt at a good deed was being punished, and only stuck his tongue out at them before running off, leaving the pair alone once more.

"Children," Jellal remarked cheerfully. "A joy to raise, yes?"

"I am not raising children. Ia m merely-"

"Erza." And he only went to reclaim his place at the desk. "I think it's nice, anyways. You have someone to look after and they do too. I just assumed you would have gotten things arranged with them, before arriving."

"I told you-"

"I recall what you told me."

"Besides." She rolled her eyes then, just from the thought. "They are too coddled. Both of them. By the time we were Kai's age, we were more than self-sufficient."

"Is that really a time you enjoy recalling?"

And she caught herself then, but he still seemed at ease with the whole situation.

"Besides," he went on, "who wishes orphaned children to always be that way? Orphaned? I do not. Ravan and Kai would be fine, of course, without you, now that they are in Fairy Tail, but are they not better? Imagine having, what was it you said? An S-Class wizard? Having that as your guardian. What an honor."

"Still," she insisted though, for the most part, she agreed with a lot of his words, "he is petulant."

"And you pulled rank on him. A child. The great Titania Erza, lowering herself to an argument with a child. Does this happen often?"

"You take him, then, for a week," she retorted. "See how quickly you tire."

"I enjoy this arrangement far better," he assured the woman. "The once a year life. And I did spend a week with him. Once. I nearly killed him. Though, this is not uncommon for me-"

"I must accompany him." She was tired of talking in circles it seemed, though, honestly, it was what he'd planned for their time together to be full of. "You know."

"What is a woman without her word?"

"A man, I suppose."

He rose again, adding, "I wish to accompany you. To the lobby. To see the boy off."

"He's not marching to his death. It is a job, honestly, he could handle on his own. That would be better for him to do on his own."

"Sometimes tells me," the man informed her softly, "that it is not watching you complete a job that he wishes, but for it to be the other way around."

The boy was waiting around, at least, as she'd instructed him. And while Erza, with her cover blown now, instead took to taking her massive amount of luggage up to the room she'd return to as quickly as possible with Jellal, the man only went to address the boy.

Ravan refused to look at him, of course, but it was no matter. As they merely stood beside one another, Jellal questioned, "How goes your magic then? Well, I hope?"

He snorted, but still, a chance to brag was a chance to brag.

"Of course it is," he retorted smugly. "My re-equip space is massive."

Well, it was bigger than the last the pair had seen one another, anyhow.

Still, Jellal nodded as he said, "I hear you take jobs now. Frequently."

"I take my share."

"And your brother?"

That got another snort and a bit of a glance.

"He can hardly even keep his stupid garden alive," Ravan said with a frown. "Erza doesn't even let him take jobs. He's too weak."

"There is a place for us all, after all," Jellal assured him. "Not all is on quests and missions. Who would we protect and serve, if we all were accomplished and brave?"

"That's a funny way of calling someone a coward."

"Cowards have their right to life just as the courageous. Neither has dominion over the other. Any more than dark or light. One cannot exist without the other and, in many of us, they form simultaneously."

Finally, the boy only looked up at the man and remarked, "You're just like Erza. You say a lot just to hear yourself talk."

Jellal was sure this was meant to be a jab (it was rather obvious), but still only smiled, now behind his fave cover once more.

"That is not a bad thing to be, after all," he replied. "Tell me again how this is insulting?"

Ravan didn't though. Only kicked at the ground. With a bit of a sigh, Jellal bumped his elbow gently against the boy's head, just to get him to stare up at him once more.

"She's not easy to look after," the older mage said simply as, once more, the woman approached then, "but I expect you to do so to the best of your ability. She hardly needs it, but when she does-"

"What do you know?" And he shoved him then, Ravan did, glaring finally. "I'm not the one that constantly leaves."

And this was true, very true, so Jellal only shrugged as, having been unmoved by the shoves, he took his steps away from the boy, passing the quizzical Erza, who came to frown down at her protege.

"What was that about?" she complained, but only slightly, as it was quickly put out of her head. "Regardless, we must leave. Immediately. I wish to be back for-"

"I told you," he griped right back, "that you don't have to come. I can go alone. You can stay. I don't care."

"But," she said as she came to shove his head in the direction of the hotel lobby doors, "I do. There will be plenty of time for pleasantries when I return, if that's what you're worried about."

"Gross." And he wasn't. "I don't wanna hear about-"

"That is not what I-"

"You should just stay if you're going to be weird, Erza."

"I was not implying-"

"Don't you wanna stay? Anyways?" They were out of the building then, the pair were, headed once more in the direction of the train station. Ravan wasn't too good at this, what was coming next, and he was walking faster, hoping, almost, to lose her and therefore not have to continue his line of questioning. "Since you get to be with Jellal?"

"There will be other times. Many other times."

But there would be other jobs too, he knew, but wasn't sure how to ask her about all this. Or what he hoped to gain from it. He rarely cared for others on a deep level. Even with his brother, it was rather shallow. He wanted him to be fed, safe, and alive, but short of that, he didn't pay much mind to it. He himself was one of the boy's biggest tormentors at times. He was always a bit selfish as a kid, but the tragedies and uprooting in his life had left him with difficulties coping with others emotions. He hardly handled his.

Still, it wasn't as if he didn't recognize that Erza was, at the very least, lonely. Or alone, actually, was a better way of putting that. She didn't see anyone, as far as he knew, outside of Jellal and that was only on occasion. It didn't take much speculation to lead him to recognize how intrusive it was, then, for him to be where he was at the moment. Taking her away from the very little time she got with what, at best, he knew to be her boyfriend.

He said nothing though, because he didn't know what should be said, anyways, if anything. Erza had a way about always seeming content, anyways, in every situation she was presented. He'd seen her smile through difficult wounds after returning from jobs and she didn't lose her mind too much when Kai was being impossible. Her natural disposition was set to adaption and overcoming anything and everything.

Even if it wasn't, it weren't as if she would ever share such worries and concerns with him, after all. A child.

Still, he didn't like the idea of it. Her being that way. Alone. If she was that. He wondered, too, if she really even was. It was hard for him to imagine, his mother and father wishing to live apart from one another, or any of the other married couples he knew, truly, but Jellal and Erza weren't dating. No, they were something different. Something he didn't understand.

Erza wished he never would.

He wasn't wholly wrong, anyways, with his thoughts. It was a lonely life, the one she led. When she was younger, in her twenties, not nearly as much. She took jobs with a high frequency and was constantly surrounded by her friends. Now her friends had families to return home to and she was alone, in her home. Or she had been. Before the boys. Now she was hardly into the city upon returning from a job and there was Kai, begging for her attention, or there was Ravan, needing training or a lecture (he was always in need of that one), and she felt, at times, like she hardly had any of it to herself. Time. She felt guilty when her jobs took to long and, though she still took the toughest around, she found herself shying away from any that would require her to be away for extended periods.

They needed her.

Erza was always needed in some way or another, from the guild to her friends to even the surrounding areas of Magnolia, really, as she were one of the most well-known mages around. Still, it was different, the kind of need they had for her. It was far more similar to that of a pet than it was the veneration of one's countrymen. She'd considered it, anyways, in the past. Getting a dog of some sort. To keep her company in the times where it felt as if she were all alone.

Now she had something. Two somethings. And though, in that moment at least, it felt as if they were dragging her away from the one thing she'd always seen herself as truly needing, she found it hard to gripe too heavily. The relationship she had with Jellal was tenured and complex, but above all else, it would always be there. She felt, especially with the older of the two, that the one she had with the boys was not so. It was based on a recent bond, a shaky trust, and she never wanted to break that. Jellal would always be there, in some form or another. He always had.

But Ravan and Kai were new introductions into her routine and neglect towards them might lead to their removal. The older seemed constantly looking for it, anyways, an out. An excuse. She refused to give either of them one. So long as they were at least a little receptive to her teachings and protection, she hoped to hold them to it for as long as possible.

"Besides," she assured the boy as she still fell into step with him, no matter how much he tried to out pace her, "this will not take long, will it? Such a simple job?"

And he didn't smile, because he didn't do that ever, but he didn't look so tense then as, slowly, he bowed his head.

When she arrived back a day latter, Jellal was glad to find it was without either of her little charges. It was as they laid around, eventually, mostly killing time until it was more acceptable to get dinner (after which they'd only lock themselves away in the room once more) that he questioned her a bit though.

"I like seeing you," he told her softly, "with your apprentice. The other as well. Tell me, it's a content life, is it not?"

"Fulfilling, at least."

"That is good then. To find that. When magic ability and social accomplishments no longer do it for you." His head lulled to the side, just to stare at her in the light of the early evening. "I only wish for you to be happy, Erza."

"A silly thing to wish for, then." She let out a slow breath, just from the thought. "They are trying, tiring, and both very tedious."

"Challenges are what bring you pleasure though," he was quick to add. "Joy."

"Perhaps," she agreed. "And they certainly are that."

"I only wish I could have seen the younger one as well." And he sighed that time, looking off. "It is silly, but I find myself fond of him. What I know of him. Surely, he has matured since I last saw him."

"Surely," she told him wryly, "you do not know him well at all."

"Oh?"

But she was tired of the boys. She'd been tired of them. And after having sent Ravan on his merry way, content in his prowess and ability to complete the job before him, she didn't wish to think of either. They were both fine without her and, for the next few days, she knew it would be hard for thoughts of them to not at least creep into her mind, but she hoped to steer most conversations away from them.

She deserved time, after all, without them.

"Where have you been?" was the question Kai asked when, during this time apart from Erza, he was eventually joined once more by his brother, who stopped by the guildhall for dinner that evening. The younger boy, who was still bunking with the Dreyar's, only frowned at the sight of his brother. The last he'd seen him, he'd been rushing out of the guildhall with a job, the same day Erza took off for her vacation.

It was torture, being away from them both at once. He almost didn't survive.

"A job," Ravan replied simply as Marin, who was seated with him, only giggled. "What difference does it make to you?"

"Well, you'll be relieved to know that Wendy thoroughly examined me after I claimed to have the pox."

"The what?"

"The pox."

"All," Marin assured the oldest of the two boys, "the pox."

Ravan only glared though, at the two of them, before huffing and saying, "Yeah, well, you stay away from me, huh? When I go home? I want to be alone. No you, no Erza. I'm on vacation."

"No fair."

"It's completely fair."

"But what if Marin and I wanna come over and play? With you?"

"No." Ravan even shook his head at them. "I don't get this chance very often."

"Chance for what?" Kai asked. "Ravan?"

But Master was headed home then, which meant Marin was, which meant he was, which meant Haven, who was hanging around somewhere too apparently, was as well (she couldn't risk Kai being in her room without her being there to bark at him to stay away from her things).

Alone was how he liked it, anyways, Ravan did, as all the was left at the bar were the drunks and weary.

"Did you wanna spend the night too?" Mirajane giggled as he paid his bill for his meal that day. "There's plenty of room."

But he only declined.

If Erza wasn't around to be all bossy, then he was going to sleep till noon everyday until she got back, eat whatever he wanted, not train even a lick, and spend all day raiding her movie lacrima collection. As well as the fridge. And attempt to break into her weapons shed. Then give up and go back to moping around the house, doing nothing at all.

She wouldn't be pleased, with either of them, truly, the swordswoman wouldn't, when she returned home to find Kai, after discovering a new favorite disease to tout, had worked the guild up into a frenzy over fear of it spreading (not likely, considering he'd made it up), and Ravan had completely destroyed the house in absence of her leadership, but she would only take a deep breath and remind herself that without them, she wouldn't have had anything to take a vacation from.

They were trying, tiring, and tedious, fine, but they were still two of the only people in the entire world that truly, without a doubt, needed her.

And it was nice to feel that.

Just a tad.


End file.
